A Healthier Future
Christchurch is unique in its approach to health care and community. A new central city health precinct brings together research and development partners and the District Health Board to prototype health tech solutions in areas such as machine learning, virtual healthcare, wearables and bio-metrics, and lead on health system and data management solutions.
The Canterbury earthquakes fostered innovation in community resilience, producing valuable learnings for a planet facing climate change and the increased likelihood of disasters, and positioning Christchurch to lead internationally on approaches to resilience and regeneration, and areas such as insurance tech.
For more information, see https://www.supernode.co.nz/
Health-Tech Superstars
Ossis specialises in custom implants catering to the individual needs of patients and surgeons worldwide. Ossis draws upon over 20 years of clinical orthopaedic experience and has been delivering custom implants for more than 10 years.
Cortex is a clinician-designed iOS app and data platform, supporting care teams to seamlessly manage clinical tasks, investigations, and documentation, as well as capture valuable patient journey information. Cortex also captures invaluable data related to inefficiencies and waste in current care workflows, enabling organisations to identify opportunities to increase the quality of care provided to patients.
This Christchurch-based company produces the world’s most advanced prosthetic hand and is exploring the wider-reaching positive implications of such technology. They currently export to the USA, Australia and Germany.
A collaboration between Canterbury District Health Board, the Mental Health Foundation and Healthy Christchurch, All Right? supports people to become more aware of their mental health and wellbeing, and to take small and regular steps to improve it. They complete research, raise awareness, and create tools that promote their goal of public mental wellbeing.
Medsalv is determined to reduce waste in the healthcare industry by working with hospitals to reuse single-use medical devices. The initiative also aims to reduce cost for healthcare providers. Started by University of Canterbury graduate Oli Hunt, the Christchurch company has received numerous awards and grants.
A Christchurch-based game developer delivering virtual reality apps to help people recover from traumatic brain injuries. CerebralFix created the apps in collaboration with Callaghan Innovation, the University of Otago, and the Burwood Academy of Independent Living (BAIL), with inspiration from research conducted by the Laura Fergusson Trust.
Mars Bioimaging is a Christchurch-based company able to create full-colour x-ray images (small bore spectral CT scanners). Run by father and son researchers Anthony and Philip Butler, Mars was formed in 2007 and has won many awards. They are world leaders in their field and have built a skilled team in Christchurch to develop their offering to the health tech sector.
Enztec is based in Christchurch and manufactures orthopaedic instruments for implant companies and orthopaedic surgeons worldwide. They have made innovations in sports medicine and ACL surgery, and export worldwide from their base in Canterbury.
ARANZ Medical Ltd is an innovator of medical solutions, specialising in 3D scanning that transforms clinical processes in wound care, orthotics and prosthetics. Based in Christchurch, their technology has applications to assist in both clinical research and practice.
New Zealand’s first nationwide online doctor and prescription delivery service, SwiftMed wants to transform the way healthcare is delivered. Combining video chat with a database of qualified doctors, SwiftMed is making doctors’ visits more accessible, efficient and cost effective for individuals and corporates.
Comrad optimises patient flow and efficiency by providing innovative, technology driven workflow solutions. Established more than thirty years ago, Comrad is now the leading provider in Australia and New Zealand for radiology information solutions.

Myovolt - Wearable Vibration Technology
ChristchurchNZ spoke to Dr Dianne Jones, founder of Myovolt, to find out why entering a Challenge has been so beneficial for their company.

Success Story: TASKA Prosthetics
Innovation ecosystem support
Manawa
Manawa, part of Christchurch’s world class Health Precinct Te Papa Hauora, is a collaboration between the CDHB, Ara and UC. Adjacent to Christchurch Hospital, the state-of-the-art healthcare facility is a hub for health education, research and innovation, with more than 1500 Ara nursing students and teaching staff, University of Canterbury researchers and post-graduate students, as well as Canterbury District Health Board staff.
VIA Innovations connect ideas to industry, innovators to investors, health to enterprise. The VIA team support people with good ideas for the health system, helping to get their innovations out to the people and communities that need them.
CDHB Design Lab is a space where clinicians, engineers, architects, and user groups are rethinking how health services are provided, and testing ideas to see how they perform in real-life situations. Following extensive research and interviews with more than 100 patients and their families to find out what they wanted from a hospital environment, the Design Lab team visited facilities around the world, including aircraft manufacturers, to learn what they could about maximising space.
Canterbury Health Innovation is a non-profit organisation helping Canterbury’s health community to succeed at home and worldwide. Regular meetups – sign up to their mailing list.
NZ Health IT is a membership organisation representing New Zealand digital health industry sector. Regular Christchurch events.
Access to Talent
Canterbury institutions excel in health-tech programmes, with the following graduate flows as a percentage of national:
Networking and Cloud computing 18%
Science – Chemistry 18%
Mechanical Engineering 19%
Manufacturing Engineering 21%
Science - Earth Science 23%
Science – Physics 24%
Engineering and Related Technologies not elsewhere classified 34%
Chemical Engineering 37%

Health Tech Student Case Study - Eve Ji

Case Study - oVRcome
Health Tech and Resilient Communities Workshop Analysis and Summary
19th July 2019
An analysis of feedback and sentiment from experts within the Health Tech and Resilient Communities sector.
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